An Underdog on the East End

By VIVIAN S. TOY

Published: October 15, 2000

LOWELL H. JUDSON had never laid eyes on Regina Seltzer, the candidate who beat Representative Michael P. Forbes by just 35 votes in last month's Democratic primary election, but he did not hesitate when asked to host a fund-raiser for her.

''I've never been politically active,'' said Mr. Judson, a 77-year-old retired dress designer and year-round Water Mill resident. ''But when I heard about this 71-year-old woman who plays tennis every morning, became a lawyer at age 50 and who has the same ideals as I have, I just got so excited about her.''

About 50 people, many of them retirees, waited patiently on his patio one recent Saturday to meet and open their checkbooks to Ms. Seltzer, a former Brookhaven councilwoman and retired school librarian who practices pro bono environmental law out of her Bellport home.

They nodded with understanding as she apologized for being two hours late and humbly bemoaned her new life as a politician who gets ''booked for one thing before I can possibly leave the first thing I'm at.'' They applauded heartily when she spoke on the issues important to her: a woman's right to choose abortion, ''common sense'' gun control, the environment and health care reform. And they cheered her with extra vigor when she expounded on the need to improve Medicare.

The event raised less than $3,000, but secured many promises to help campaign for Ms. Seltzer, from working phone banks and distributing campaign literature to writing letters to friends extolling the candidate's virtues. Ms. Seltzer and her supporters hope the kind of energy generated at events like Mr. Judson's will help her win a decidedly uphill battle against Felix J. Grucci Jr., the Brookhaven Town supervisor who is the Republican candidate for the First Congressional District seat being vacated by Mr. Forbes..

Mr. Grucci has wide name recognition in the First District, which comprises Brookhaven, parts of Smithtown and all of the five East End towns. He has raised $1.2 million for the election and expects to have raised $2 million before Nov. 7, Election Day. Mr. Grucci also has the firm support of the national Republican Party, which hopes to recapture the seat that became Democratic when Mr. Forbes switched parties last year.

Ms. Seltzer, a recently widowed grandmother, on the other hand, is a relative unknown in the district despite having served on the Brookhaven town board in the late 1970's. While local, state and national Democratic officials have pledged to help her after endorsing Mr. Forbes in the primary, it is still unclear whether she will be given the hefty financial support that national Democratic leaders previously pledged to Mr. Forbes. She also has not been able to win the support of local and state labor leaders, who endorsed Mr. Forbes and provided volunteers for his campaign.

Still, Ms. Seltzer's stunning victory over Mr. Forbes has captured the attention of many. She won the primary with about $40,000 in campaign contributions, a mere fraction of the $1.3 million Mr. Forbes had. She has raised more than $100,000 in the four weeks since the primary, an amount her advisers hope will convince national party leaders that she is indeed a viable candidate.

Ms. Seltzer lately has been routinely putting in 14 and 15 hour days going to campaign events, greeting voters at supermarkets and train stations and above all, on the phone soliciting campaign contributions. The fundraising, she said, has her convinced of the need for campaign finance reform. ''Instead of talking about issues, I have to waste so much time raising money,'' she said. ''It's just awful.''

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which spent more than $1 million on television ads attacking Mr. Grucci's environmental record before the primary election, has yet to decide how much money it will spend on Ms. Seltzer's campaign. But both Representative Richard A. Gephardt, the House minority leader, and Representative Patrick J. Kennedy, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, have agreed to host fund-raisers for Ms. Seltzer in Suffolk County this month.

Terrence G. Pearsall, Ms. Seltzer's campaign manager, said the events were signs that Ms. Seltzer would ultimately get the support she needs to counter Mr. Grucci's seven-digit budget. ''They're not going to waste either one of the congressman's time on a race that doesn't look like it can be won,'' he said. Mr. Pearsall, who also ran the unsuccessful campaign of Nora Bredes against Mr. Forbes in 1996, estimated that Ms. Seltzer would need to spend at least $400,000 to beat Mr. Grucci. With the help of the state and national parties, he said, ''I think we'll have enough money to put our plans into effect.''

Representative Gary Ackerman, the Fifth District Democrat who lobbied hard for Mr. Forbes when local Democrats initially balked at endorsing him, has now become one of Ms. Seltzer's biggest fans and is urging national leaders to commit big dollars to her campaign. Mr. Ackerman first met Ms. Seltzer on primary election night when he invited himself to her home and campaign headquarters so he could share his assessment with Mr. Gephardt the next day.